1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications services. More particularly, the present invention relates to capabilities that enhance substantially a key element of Unified Messaging (UM) and Unified Communications (UC) initiatives—i.e., Mobile Subscriber (MS) Location Awareness (LA).
2. Background of the Invention
As the ‘wireless revolution’ continues to march forward the importance to a MS, for example a user of a Wireless Device (WD) such as a cellular telephone or a BlackBerry that is serviced by a Wireless Carrier (WC), of their WD grows substantially.
For example, under UM and UC schemes or environments, among other things, the storage, management, presentation, etc. of multiple messaging paradigms or models (including, inter alia, voice, Short Message Service [SMS], Multimedia Message Service [MMS], Internet Protocol [IP] Multimedia Subsystem [IMS], Instant Messenger [IM], Electronic Mail [E-Mail], facsimile transmission [FAX], etc.) are dynamically adapted to match or otherwise meet the unique requirements, needs, etc. of a MS′ particular circumstances and are subsequently exposed or offered to a MS′ WD through mechanisms such as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP), Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), etc.
A key element in the determination of a MS′ particular circumstances' (as referenced above) is knowledge of the current physical location of a MS′ WD—i.e., MS LA.
MS LA-based service offerings are of particular interest to, for example, individuals who are ‘on call’ for business reasons (e.g., technical support, etc.) or for personal reasons (e.g., a medical condition such as organ transplantation, pregnancy, etc.), first responders, individuals within a large corporate environment, etc.
The present invention extends key elements of wireless technology to augment MS LA-based offerings and addresses various of the (not insubstantial) challenges that are associated with same thereby incrementally enhancing the value, usefulness, etc. of the presence awareness, place shifting, etc. components of UM and UC schemes or environments.